Susan Philipsz, who was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize three years ago, describes herself as a sculptor. In the past few years the Scottish artist has acquired an international reputation with her expressive sound installations. With The Missing String, the work she made for the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the artist inquires into the historical contexts of the place and the practice of saving and collecting things.

The work is based on extensive research on war-damaged musical instruments. For the production of The Missing String the artist was able to use a whole series of such instruments and thus redirect them to their original purpose. Dented, shot through or bent, their sound inevitably tells of the impact of the war and the often tragic fate of musicians during the Nazi dictatorship.